Dish Technicians not up to date on Hopper

rwalsh

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Feb 17, 2004
49
3
Yesterday, The Installation Tech. tried to help me connect and use my EHD's with my new Hopper . When he talked to Tech. Support, he was told a EHD with 722 Recordings could not be used with the Hopper. I was told the night before that it may work and it may not. The installation tech. said he would investigate and would call me if it was possible. Of course, After he left my EHD with several important recordings from the 722 played and transferred great with the Hopper. Some one needs to educate the tech's at Dish. Heck I could have just canned the EHD's.
 
Maybe their training should include a mandatory satelliteguys membership. :)
 
Nope, no education required. In this case you got the correct answer. In fact I credit the Tech for knowing there may be a problem and not just telling you for sure one way or the other. There are still the occasional posts about people having trouble with 722 recordings. Had you asked here I would have given the same answer, it may or may not work at first.
 
Many technicians know this stuff, and many don't. But honestly, it isn't something many customers ask.

I can recall about 3-5 people asking me that sort of question during an install since the Hopper has launched.
 
Some things aren't taught to or supported by techs. EHD's and OTA modules are not installed or serviced by technicians. Right or wrong, agree or disagree. If a tech doesn't use one himself, he probably hasn't seen it or know how to set it up.
 
During my upgrade from Hoppers to HWS's, the tech didn't know that you could backup your timers, favorites, and settings on the remotes! Glad I mentioned it - he was amazed. BTW, he was otherwise a very good tech.
Brad
 
When my HWS was installed last January, I asked the technician about OTA module. He said, and I quote, "I have no idea. I've never heard of that." So I went online, bought one and installed it myself.
 
The Hopper and what it can do is constantly changing and improving. Hard for the guys in the field (who probably don't even have a Hopper themselves) to know about all it can do or all its features. Best thing to do when they don't know is to tell them to check out SatelliteGuys, as your not going to find better Hopper info and support ANYWHERE else. :)
 
Every tech that has come here didn't know that you could have four Hoppers on one dish, all four Hoppers can see each other and the Joey can be placed on WiFi!!! Can you believe it!?!?

Lol. Seriously. The three techs I've had out here were seriously impressed with my setup. I taught them a thing or two about how it all works.
 
Yesterday, The Installation Tech. tried to help me connect and use my EHD's with my new Hopper....
Look at it this way: Can you call Dish and schedule a technician visit to hook up your external HDD ? If not, don't expect techs to "support" it (officially). Same sort of thing applies to OTA, at least on Hoppers. Out of the box, a Hopper can't do squat with OTA, so techs again know nothing about it (officially).
 
Just so everyone understands, there was zero hands on training on these things for techs for the standard installation, much less all the advanced features. The techs that do know how the more advanced features work know because they've taken the inititiative on their own time to play around with their systems at home.

And yes, I wouldn't put it past a CSR to create a w/o for a tech to come set up an ehd or ota adapter, even though they aren't supposed to. You would have a better than average chance the tech wouldn't have a clue.
 
Look at it this way: Can you call Dish and schedule a technician visit to hook up your external HDD ? If not, don't expect techs to "support" it (officially). Same sort of thing applies to OTA, at least on Hoppers. Out of the box, a Hopper can't do squat with OTA, so techs again know nothing about it (officially).

I guess I'm going to have to disagree with this comment about OTA. I already had an amplified antenna set up and ready near my TV and in my opinion, the techs should have OTA modules available on their truck for customers who either purchase them or need them for whatever reason. It shouldn't seem unthinkable or even unreasonable that a new customer might need that type of setup. It's not a huge deal for me obviously as they aren't difficult to configure. But it is a device sold by Dish, so it should be supported by Dish. Just my two cents!
 
I guess I'm going to have to disagree with this comment about OTA. I already had an amplified antenna set up and ready near my TV and in my opinion, the techs should have OTA modules available on their truck for customers who either purchase them or need them for whatever reason. It shouldn't seem unthinkable or even unreasonable that a new customer might need that type of setup. It's not a huge deal for me obviously as they aren't difficult to configure. But it is a device sold by Dish, so it should be supported by Dish. Just my two cents!

I agree, but internal Dish techs aren't given OTA modules on their vans. For me the number of customers in the last year who wanted one = 1. If you count people that can't get locals because of LOS (and then recommending it) = 3 (total). Dish isn't going to go out of their way to stock vans with stuff most people don't use.

Like others have said, most of this stuff is uncommon and only asked about from power users. There are not many folks who fit in that category.

As a side note, with more than 2 Hoppers dish officially says not to link the client ports on the nodes.
 
When I was contacted by Dish (they called me) I explained that I had a 722 and an EHD and was leery about switching to the Hopper because of losing my stored material. I was assured that the Hopper would have no problem connecting with my EHD and she would make sure the installer was a level 2 or 3 tech. A very nice young man showed up and had no clue what a EHD was. He informed me that he was new with the company (2 months) and was indeed a level 1 tech. Between the two of us we managed to get everything hooked up and the Hopper had no problems connecting and working with my EHD. Several other problems have reared their ugly heads in the first two weeks, like losing stations from me Custom Guides but all in all I'm quite satisfied.
 
If you need a truck roll to get a EHD or OTA module working- two things:

1) You should be charged full freight. AND/OR

2) You probably shouldn't have either, if you can't figure it out yourself or have someone who can.
 

Hopper With Sling, Optical Audio Cutting Out

hoppers dropping individual tuners.

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